TEN
The phone call Charlotte received yesterday while she was in James' office had her tossing and turning on her bed all night. It was from Sonia, her best friend. Apparently, her ex fiance, Dean, was getting married in two days' time. She couldn't believe it, he had told her that he needed time to figure his life out and a month later he's getting married. She was beyond devastated.
As she walked into the station, she suddenly felt grateful for her job. It was a great distraction from her miserable life.
" Is Timothy here yet?"She said to the officer at the front desk, a pretty lady with a lot of piercings.
"Nope," the lady replied.
"Alright, tell him to come to my office when he gets here," Charlotte said as she walked away.
She faintly heard the lady reply, 'Will do' before she was out of hearing range.
"Hey Newt. Early morning?"
" Yeah, I'm still working on the Dennis Twins case,"
" Jesus, they haven't caught them already?"
"I'm pretty sure you'd have known if they have."
"Ha ha. I'll be in my office."
"Alright."
Charlotte sighed and dropped down into her chair. She made them give her rolling chairs. She was still a child in her heart, and she knew it. She rolled around a little, then stopped when she started getting dizzy.
She brought out the toast from her bag, unwrapped it, and then pulled out her phone. Sonia had been blowing up her phone all night after she went blank and hung up on her.
After apologizing to Sonia for about 10 minutes. She started scrolling through Instagram and sniggering every once in a while. Her page consisted mostly of memes because that was what she liked.
*********
"Sorry I'm late ma'am," Timothy said with an apologetic look.
"Did you knock?"Charlotte said as she looked up from stalking her celebrity crush on Instagram. The actor who played Derek Hale in Teen Wolf.
Charlotte didn't really like the series in itself, but she finished it because she hated not finishing whatever she started.
"Yes ma'am, about five times."
Charlotte sighed and said, "Let's get going. We're late already anyway."
Charlotte and Timothy were on their way to Mr Plugger's house to get a sketch of the man Mr Plugger saw in Lily's house the other day.
.
"Do you need help?"Charlotte said to Timothy as she closed the car door.
"No, thanks. I've got it. "
Charlotte nodded as they walked up the few steps to Mr Plugger's door.
"Mr Plugger will be with you soon," said the same lady that attended to Charlotte the last time she was here.
"Okay, thank you,"
About ten minutes later, Mr Plugger arrived.
"Good morning, Detectives."
"Morning," Charlotte and Timothy responded simultaneously.
"Last time we spoke Mr Plugger, you told me about the man you met in Lily's house a month before. I want you to describe the man as best as you can so that Officer Timothy can draw him and we can get an idea of his physical appearance."Charlotte said.
"Okay, no problem. I have a good memory when it comes to people."
"Alright, sir, please describe his general appearance for me."
After about an hour of back and forth between Timothy and Mr. Plugger, they had a clear drawing of the man Mr Plugger saw.
.
"I don't recognize him," Charlotte said as she looked at the drawing.
"Same," Timothy replied.
"Let me take a picture and send it to Anderson and Newt," Charlotte said as she pulled out her phone.
After she sent the picture, she started the car, put it in reverse, and started to drive back towards the station.
Less than two minutes later, she heard her phone chime. It was from James.
"That looks like Mr Fringe," the text said.
As she finished reading the text, another one from James came in.
"The DNA tests are in. I'm going to get it. How far out are you?"
Charlotte replied, "About 10 minutes."
It read 'seen' immediately she sent it.
'Mr Fringe? How could that be?'Charlotte thought, 'What is his involvement with Lily Plugger? Poor Mrs Fringe. I hope for her sake that this means nothing at all.'
Her phone chimed again. It was from Newt this time.
"Cross-checked with the list of people you talked to, looks like Mr Fringe."
Charlotte sighed. Less than a minute later, she got another text. It was from James this time.
"Results in. Mr Fringe."
.
"We have to bring him in."James says, "he may know something."
" I know, I know."Charlotte said, feeling increasingly frustrated.
Something was not right. She could feel it, and it was nagging at her.
"So, should...."Charlotte started, but the ringing of a phone cut her off.
It was James'.
"Sorry," he said and put up one finger as a form of excusing himself.
"Anderson," he said as he started to walk away from Charlotte.
Charlotte watched his receding figure for a while, lost in thought before she collected herself and walked to Newt's table.
"Hey, let me see the picture of Mr Fringe side by side with the drawing I sent you please", she said and walked to the back of Newt's chair resting on it with her fore arm crossed on the top of the chair.
"Here you go," Newt said as he pulled it up.
The resemblance was clear. James was right. They had to bring him in just so he could understand the intensity of the situation he was in. Although Charlotte also knew that it could have the opposite effect, if he really was involved, he would put his guard up and be more careful. It was a chance she was ready to take, though.
"We need to go now," it was James.
"Why? What's up?"Charlotte said as she hurriedly thanked Newt and followed James to the car given to him by the district.
"Tami, Lily's maid called. She said she had a confession to make. She was crying and it seemed urgent."
"Oh," was Charlotte's reply as James started the car, reversed out of the building, and drove off.
.
Tami was already waiting at the coffee shop when James and Charlotte got there.
"Do you want anything?"James said as he sat down. He noticed she didn't order anything, and he thought if she took something, it would calm her down.
"No, thank you detective", she said as she sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I'm here to confess something considering the murder case. "
James and Charlotte said nothing, silently urging her to continue.
"That night that Miss Lily was murdered, I lied about something to you Mr Anderson", she said, " I wasn't in that night, I went out with my boyfriend against Miss Lily's wishes, I sneaked out. I knew she wouldn't call for me again that night because she went to bed early that night. I came back by 10:45pm and went straight to bed, I didn't realize or notice that anything was off till Mrs Fringe called for help. I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. If I was around, I could have saved her. "
She then broke down crying, earning looks from people in the small shop.
"I couldn't not tell you because it was eating me up inside. The guilt, "she said and looked up for the first time that afternoon.
"It's okay, Tami."Charlotte said.
"No, it's not. Will I be arrested for lying?", She said.
"No. Except there's more to the story you're leaving out again, "James replied .
"No, I swear!"Tami replied quickly.
"Tami, do you know if Mr Fringe and Lily Plugger had any form of close friendship?"Charlotte asked
"No, not really. We were neighbours. Mr Fringe and Miss Lily were friendly, and that's all I knew."
"Are you sure?"James pressed.
"Yes, I'm sure," she said.
"Last month, was Mr Fringe in Miss Lily's house ever?"Charlotte asked
"I was in my mom's house throughout last month, she was sick," Tami replied.
"And you're sure there was nothing between Mr Fringe and Miss Lily?"James asked again.
"Yes," Tami replied.
James and Charlotte looked at each other. The case was getting more and more complicated.
Image above: your one and only
Read and tell your friends as usual.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro